Coalition urges reform of ESG frameworks in line with global best practices
Nigeria’s banking sector has come under renewed pressure to overhaul its sustainability reporting systems after a coalition of civil society organisations called for urgent reforms of Environmental, Social and Governance
Nigeria’s banking sector has come under renewed pressure to overhaul its sustainability reporting systems after a coalition of civil society organisations called for urgent reforms of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks to align with global best practices.
The call followed the release of a report by the Fair Finance Nigeria Coalition, which found that leading commercial banks in the country recorded an average ESG score of just 1.7 out of 10, raising concerns over transparency, environmental responsibility, and corporate accountability in the financial sector.
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The report, presented in Abuja, assessed four major banks—Access Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Zenith Bank—using over 400 international sustainability indicators.
The coalition, comprising BudgIT, Oxfam, Policy Alert, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Connected Development, and Sustainable Transformation and Empowerment Programme, described the findings as “alarming,” warning that the current ESG framework in Nigeria is no longer fit for purpose.
Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the performance of the banks reflected a pattern of weak compliance and lack of accountability.
“Scoring zero on tax transparency and 0.9 on climate change is unacceptable. These institutions are making huge profits from high-impact sectors while refusing to be accountable for the social and environmental footprints of their decisions,” he said.
